Blog

I’ve never been one to “bleed purple”, a phrase repeatedly used to describe the fervent loyalty, pride and admiration that binds many alumni to Holy Cross. It’s not that I don’t share their love for my alma mater (I do), or that the education I received didn’t live up to my expectations (it exceeded them).… Read more

“You must savor college while you still can!” is a phrase I’ve grown accustomed to hearing, thanks to the countless number of people in the so-called “real world,” who continue to remind me in a not-so-gentle way that graduation is looming in the near future. As I prepare to return to Holy Cross for my… Read more

When I was a reporter at The Toronto Star, a once-great newspaper that employed the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Morley Callaghan, it was a family-controlled institution that was staunchly Canadian in its ideals and deeply committed to promoting social justice and individual and civil liberties. The publisher in my day was an incredibly Machiavellian… Read more

Back in 1980, I bought what I thought was my dream car. It was an all-wheel, sporty – ok, sporty at the time – front-wheel-drive vehicle called the Chevrolet Citation, which General Motors heavily promoted as “The first Chevy of the 80s” and Motor Trend magazine named its “Car of the Year.” My generation was… Read more

The ‘stiff upper lip’ is a trait frequently dredged up in discussions regarding my nationality. We natives of the British Isles are, for a variety of reasons, famed for our resilient, tacit acceptance of the substandard or difficult, as perfectly underscored by the slogan of famous WWII era posters: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On.’ This… Read more

In 1998, Stephen Glass was a hotshot, high-profile, twenty-something journalist writing features for The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Harper’s, and other respected publications. He was also, as it turned out, a serial fabricator. Many of the people and events he chronicled were exposed as imaginary, forcing Glass to resign in disgrace. He deservedly became a… Read more

One of my simple pleasures is watching the first 20 minutes or so of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Comedy genius aside, the folks responsible for putting together the opening “news” segment appreciate better than anyone how farcical political discourse via mainstream media has become. The show’s writers regularly serve up heaping portions of… Read more

Tech entrepreneur Peter Shih is the poster child for what ails San Francisco these days. The young tech entrepreneur in August wrote a blog (since deleted, but covered here) highlighting 10 things he hated about San Francisco. The writing was arrogant, elitist, sexist, and otherwise all-around offensive – and the public outrage that followed was… Read more

American Banker, a banking industry trade publication, each year gives a “Banker of the Year” award to the CEO who has achieved considerable financial success and accomplishment. Customer satisfaction doesn’t really factor much into the equation, which is fitting. After all, the industry is not particularly known for its customer service-orientation, despite what retail bankers’… Read more

One of my first jobs out of college was working for a family-owned engineering firm. The firm showed remarkable benevolence to its employees, who in turn were incredibly loyal to the company. The mutual respect of management and its employees was the reason the firm was a leader in its highly specialized space. It was… Read more